1. What did CPS’s external partners and CPS district staff believe were the conditions, behaviors, and activities needed to support the use of student experience data in schools?
We undertook this project to further understand how educators use data to center and improve students’ daily experience; what supports are needed for the work; and how the work can be aligned across a district for lasting transformation.
This Field Scan discusses three topics that emerged from interviews with educator stakeholders who had formal roles within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) or served as external partners who provided support for centering student experience to schools, networks, or central office staff in CPS. The topics identified were: 1) The role of shifting adult mindsets in shaping the use of student experience data and building adult capacity to use student experience data; 2) engaging students in data analysis and improvement; and 3) fostering coherence and alignment across systems, structures, and stakeholders. Across topics, we found that participants both acknowledged the technical and cultural challenges of understanding and using student experience data and expressed their excitement about the potential for using these data for improvement.
Key Takeaways:
- In order for data to be used for improvement, there needs to be a shift in adult mindsets and approaches around the use of student experience data.
- Effective strategies exist to support the adult mindset and capacity shifts needed to utilize student experience data for school and classroom improvement.
- It is imperative to engage students as partners in data use and school improvement initiatives.
- Better coordination, communication, and coherence across professional learning and supports are needed to create a more coherent, viable, effective, and sustainable effort to center student experience in schools
